Surgical diseases of the breast during pregnancy

Physicians caring for women with diseases of the breast are well aware of the time lost before many patients consult their physicians. Nowhere is this more apparent than when a breast mass is associated with gestation or lactation. Enlargement of the breast tends to obscure parenchymal masses. Those that are found are too readily attributed to normal hypertrophy, abscess, or resolving fibrocystic disease. In this review we have attempted to focus on the earlier diagnosis and treatment of breast masses in pregnancy. Prompt needle aspiration will elucidate the solid or cystic nature of a mass. A simple cyst or a galactocele can be diagnosed by the fluid obtained. Solid lesions can be further investigated by fine-needle aspiration for cytologic study. Cytologically equivocal lesions should be subjected to excisional biopsy using local anesthesia. Cancerous lesions occurring during pregnancy should be treated promptly by mastectomy. The outlook for these patients, if treated before metastases occur, is comparable to that for nonpregnant patients. Pregnancy need not be terminated unless disseminated cancer is present and chemotherapy is necessary on an urgent basis.